Revenge would be the reason why Barbie and Oppenheimer (Barbenheimer) are released on the same day. Everything would have happened because of the dissatisfaction that director Christopher Nolan had with Warner Bros. when Tenet was released, in 2020.
It turns out that Nolan would have asked the production company that his film be screened on most IMAX screens, but they did not heed his request. The above would have made the filmmaker very upset that for his next project, he opted to work with Universal Studios, which would have accepted each of his conditions.
To give you an idea: Oppenheimer cost 200 million dollars, and Nolan demanded that it would run for at least 15 weeks. To please the director, Universal rented IMAX theaters for three weeks to enjoy Nolan’s big bet to the fullest.
The filmmaker’s ‘whims’ would be, to some extent, a betrayal for Warner, who had worked with him for many years, so when they found out that Oppenheimer was being ‘cooked,’ they adjusted the release date of Barbie to be the same day (July 21, 2023).
Other Big Releases That Happened on the Same Day
Although it has caused great controversy that these major productions are released on the same day, we must look to the past to remember that Barbie and Oppenheimer are not the only films in which the release date coincides.
Usually, production companies try to prevent this from happening to avoid direct competition, and the success of the films can explode at the box office, but for several reasons, it happens. Here are some double releases of great films that received nominations and awards from experts.
- The Dark Knight and Mamma Mia! – July 18, 2008
- Blade Runner and The Thing – June 25, 1982
- Ghostbusters and Gremlins – June 8, 1984
- Die Hard and A Fish Called Wanda – July 15, 1988
- Jumanji and Heat – December 15, 1995
- Toy Story and Casino – November 22, 1995
- The Matrix and 10 Things I Hate About You – March 31, 1999
- Catching Fire and Frozen – November 22, 2013
- The Truman Show and Deep Impact – June 5, 1998
- Sherlock Holmes and Avatar – December 25, 2009
Barbenheimer Would Be Possible with Cillian Murphy
Barbenheimer‘s fever led to Cillian Murphy, the actor who plays Oppenheimer, the so-called ‘father of the atomic bomb,’ being asked if he would be up for the role of Ken in the event of a second Barbie movie. The actor smiled and replied “Of course, let’s read the script and have a chat. I can’t wait to see the movie. I think it’s great for cinema to have these two great movies coming out in the summer.”
If so, it would be giving more realism to what they baptized in social networks as Barbenheimer, a combination of the names of both films that are released on July 21, 2023.
This story was written in Spanish by Nayeli Párraga in Cultura Colectiva
More Barbenheimer stories:
How the Cast of ‘Oppenheimer’ Looks Like Compared to Their Real-Life Counterparts
The Touching Cameo of Barbie’s Real-Life Inspo in the Movie You Might’ve Missed